It was quite a night at TD Garden as Boston marked the official return of Jayson Tatum and a big Celtics win.
Inside a packed Garden, it felt like a playoff atmosphere with fans pumped up to welcome back a superstar as the team focuses on a final push to playoffs.
It was a slow start for Tatum, who missed his first six shot attempts of the game against the Dallas Mavericks, but he wasted no time getting some of the other guys involved with five assists in the first half.
It was a tight game in the final minutes of the first half, until JT decided to make the comeback official.
One possession later – why not add a 3? Tatum would score 5 late and the Celtics would lead by 5 at the half. Head Coach Joe Mazzulla was happy with his star’s first night back.
“I thought he played with a free mind, I thought he played with a sense of gratitude, a sense of perspective, I thought he played with a sense of freedom, you know, I’m here I’ve accepted this, I’m grateful for this and how can I continue to grow and get better but also be myself? You know we cannot have a lesser version of him and so I thought I saw a good balance,” Mazzulla said.
He also noted that he thought Tatum’s conditioning was better than he expected.
In the second, Tatum threw a couple more before closing his night. He finished with 15 points on 6 for 16 shooting while logging 27 minutes in Boston’s 120-100 win.
MVP Candidate Jaylen Brown chipped in 24 and fans feel the sky is the limit when the playoffs begin next month.
“We’re talking another ring,” one fan said when asked about the possibilities.
See a full recap of the game in the NBC Sports Boston live blog.
